Bangkok Post - April 17, 2007
Apiradee Treerutkuarkul

The move, which is aimed at seeking a balance between the interests of patent holders and the public, might affect sales to some level, he said.

However, he did not think it would mean a double standard for the makers of existing drugs.

"Drugs are a special product and the FDA has a duty to ease the problems of drugs access while protecting consumers' rights. In the meantime, we also have to ensure the move will not severely hurt the benefits of drug companies," he said.

In February, the government announced a decision to adopt compulsory licensing for importing or producing copycat versions of costly Aids and heart drugs Efavirenz, Kaletra and Plavix.

Abbott Laboratories, the patent holder of Kaletra, rejected the move by withholding a plan to introduce new drugs - including Aluvia, which is an upgraded formulation of Kaletra - in Thailand.

However, the company earlier this month decided to cut the Kaletra price to 3,488 baht per month, down 40% from its previous proposal. The new price could be cheaper than the generic version of the anti-Aids drug.

But the Public Health Ministry has yet to make a final decision on whether to accept the company's offer or maintain its previous plan to import generic versions of the drug.

Dr Siriwat said he believed the new law would not cause other drug firms to withhold the introduction of new drugs in Thailand as Abbott did.

"The drug price should be affordable for people in each country, but that is not always the case. For example, leukaemia drugs cost a patient nearly 100,000 baht a month, whereas the average monthly income of Thai people is only 10,000 baht. As a result, some patients were almost bankrupted by the overpriced drugs necessary for treatment," he said.

Apart from the issue of overpriced drugs, pharmaceutical officials will keep a close watch on the marketing and promotional tactics of drug firms, particularly the way they sponsor trips for health professionals to attend seminars and conferences abroad.

Jiraporn Limpananont, an academic at Chulalongkorn University's faculty of pharmaceutical sciences, said drug companies have invested heavily in marketing and promotional campaigns, and that made drugs too costly.

This is unfair to consumers, she said.

"It's necessary to seek a balance between the patent holders and the public. Live-saving drugs should not be products that only the well-to-do can afford," she said.

Ms Jiraporn also questioned the proposed revision of the patent law by the Department of Intellectual Property, which would allow opponents of patents to contest the process only after approval is given.

Without "pre-grant" opposition, local drug firms would not be able to produce generic versions of patented drugs until disputes were over, and that would mean Thai consumers would be stripped of fair access to cheap drugs, she said.

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